§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will investigate the handling by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate at Croydon of mail sent by recorded delivery on 26 November by Su Jin Park. [29266]
§ Angela Eagle[holding answer 22 January 2002]: Su Jin Park's application was posted to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) Public Enquiry Office in Birmingham. They forwarded it to IND in Croydon on 28 November 2001. Of late, it has been taking up to eight weeks to consider new applications. The reasons for this are (i) the exceptionally high number of applications received in 2001; and (ii) process changes that are being introduced. I regret that it was not possible to decide Miss Park's application before her planned departure from the United Kingdom but am pleased that she was able to travel as a result of obtaining an emergency travel document from the Korean Embassy. Her passport will now be returned to the Embassy.